


Lost Threads

by TigressJade



Series: Fruits Basket AUs [4]
Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fruits Basket - Canon Divergence, Future Kana/Hatori, Gen, Kana is BAMF, Mayuko is BAMF, Past Kana/Hatori, Shigure doesn't suspect a thing, The Author Regrets Nothing, There is a fire in this, This goes au during the early part of the manga and anime story, Which is why I put a trigger warning for anyone to whom it might apply
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 12:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15631134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigressJade/pseuds/TigressJade
Summary: AU. Kana remembers the truth about her relationship with Hatori and sets about finding a way to break the zodiac curse.





	Lost Threads

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this during a re-read of the Fruits Basket manga. I noticed there weren't many fics where Kana remembers the zodiac curse that featured her in a positive light and wanted to change that.
> 
> Possible Trigger Warning: There is mention of a fire and some depiction of arson in this. Kana is incredibly desperate, but that doesn't excuse the implications of this.

The seahorses at the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo were fascinating, Kana surmised, as she watched one of them glide through the water, mock-bouncing each time. Then it turned in the opposite direction with a single graceful movement almost reminiscent of a swan's smooth gestures. Kana thought it resembled a small dragon, shifting through its domain with a quiet air about it.

Kana Sohma was a medical assistant to a notable doctor at the Tokyo Metropolitan hospital. She had started her career shortly after graduating college and becoming the assistant to a medical practitioner from her own clan, the Sohmas. His name was Hatori Sohma, a young doctor in his twenties, who'd recently graduated medical school and taken up private practice to ensure the Sohma's had their own personal physician to see to the family's discreet personal needs. She'd left his employ because of a wall that had suddenly been erected between her and her boss. He had gone from bland and mildly friendly in her presence to gloomy and withdrawn. Hatori had still treated his patients with the same care and compassion as always, but for some reason he'd felt it necessary to close her out emotionally. Kana couldn't ascertain the reason for his abrupt change in attitude and had left in order to preserve her own emotional balance and to further her career.

Despite her distance from her former boss there were shadows that still haunted her. Sometimes she could see Hatori's smile in her dreams or an image of them sitting together in a park talking about nothing in particular. She didn't know where these images came from, although she suspected that they were not in fact, vivid hallucinations from her lengthy illness. The cause of said illness was stress or so her family informed her, and for years she had accepted this explanation and moved on her with life. Her recovery had been quite rapid, something that still niggled at the surface of her mind. During her time at Tokyo Metropolitan she had never come across a patient who'd been as emaciated and withdrawn, simply because of stress, as she had during her illness only to have them turn around and quickly recover what they'd lost. No, it usually took years, even her prior internships before becoming a practicing medial assistant had taught her that. The habits that caused people to reach such a dire medical state owing to stress were not that easily altered. Her rapid recovery and the holes in her memory as well as her odd obsession with seahorses, something she had also gained after her illness for an inexplicable reason, bothered her.

Kana sighed and walked away from the tank. She knew there was little hope of finding her answer here. There were few people she could ask about this without implicating her family or accusing them of deception. She loved her family and friends and understood that they would only do what was best for her. Even if there were things she couldn't explain and she felt like she was missing something important in her life, or perhaps someone. It was a persistent feeling that refused to leave her be and let her forget.

A few days after her latest trip, Mayuko Shiraki came over for a visit and Kana insisted on showing her the aquarium. Mayuko had jokingly compared Shigure, who now frequented her parents bookshop, much to her continued annoyance, to an octopus. Ayame was designated as a lion fish as well, something that had caused Kana to giggle. Then she stared at the seahorses for a moment and told Kana that Hatori very much resembled them, a careful grace that was quiet and resolute in its own way.

Kana agreed and turned to look at the fish herself. The seahorses were her favorites and she usually came here just to see them after all. At that moment she could see an image in her mind of Hatori's face cast over that of a seahorse. The image kept getting stronger, like an electric shock wave and Kana felt like she wanted to scream in frustration. Then it came. An image of herself hugging Hatori Sohma accompanied by a puff of smoke and him wrapped up in a towel held solidly in her own arms.

Then she wept as waves of cold realization covered her unsettled mind. She remembered everything. Her own downfall had been her refusal to blame others, namely Akito for harming Hatori. Akito was the head of the Sohma family, a child that everyone had insisted on coddling and protecting once upon a time. Then he had become cool and collected, only showing his face at certain family events, keeping his favorites close by his side. What she had seen of Akito at a distance during the past few years had given her a new perspective on him. Her younger self had been much more accepting of others, and while this was still true, the lingering feeling of innate deception about her illness by her own family had caused some unsettling revelations in her own psyche. There was an innocence that she'd once had which was now gone. Time in and out of the emergency room with patients in dire need of life support had put paid to any surviving notions of a peaceful world.

Kana still accepted others for who they were, still loved her family, but something had always been missing from her life. Now that she understood what had truly happened between her and Hatori years before, she could no longer go on living the way she had. She wasn't going to break down again, that wouldn't help anyone. No, she had to find a way to talk to Hatori, or break his curse, or both. The situation couldn't go on this way.

Mayuko noticed her crying and insisted on taking her home. Kana complied, not wanting to make a seen in such a public place. Then she told Mayuko everything, knowing that she was the one person who could possibly understand her. Her friend had dated Shigure Sohma once after all and broken up with him over his cold demeanor. The same one, she suspected, that Hatori had shown to her directly before she'd left his employment.

"He's still there" Mayuko told her. "Hatori hasn't changed much during the past few years, according to Shigure. I don't think talking to him will help right now though."

"Not while Akito is still around to do what he did last time" Kana replied with a nod. "I can't let him get inside my head again."

"Shigure told me about Hatori's ability to erase a person's memory years ago" Mayuko admitted. "I didn't understand how or why it had happened, so I couldn't do anything about it. I'm sorry that I-"

"You didn't do it" Kana said cutting her off with a wave of her hands. "You only went along with what they were telling you. I would never want you to get hurt Mayu. It's not like you could have proven it to me or anyone else. I'm surprised Shigure mentioned something so important to you, even though he supposedly didn't like or trust you. That's what you told me."

"I don't know either" Mayuko answered. "I think in some odd way he thinks we're friends, the creep. He keeps suggesting that I talk to Hatori."

"Oh?"

The high school teacher shook her head.

"It's probably because I knew you" Mayuko explained. "Hatori's still human. I doubt he has any more closure than you do about what happened."

"He couldn't still love me" Kana reasoned. "I made his life a living hell for two months before he finally decided to end it and erase all of my memories."

"He couldn't be the one pulling the strings" her friend argued. "Hatori was incredibly close to marrying you and perfectly willing to do so. The only thing that changed his mind seems to be this Akito person. You don't actually need the head of the family's permission to marry in modern day Japan, you know. My own parents keep insisting that I get married just for the sake of it. If I listened to them, I'd find myself in an irreversibly stupid situation."

"I'm sure they're only thinking of you, Mayu."

"Probably, but that doesn't give them the right to run my life, now does it?"

"I'm still surprised that you believed me so readily" Kana commented lightly. "It's all so unreal. I knew there was something wrong, but not something like this."

"I noticed a number of unexplained occurrences from that time as well" Mayuko assured her. "It was all quite suspicious. I think my voicing such worries to Shigure of all people was what saved me from any further backlash."

"I told you, I think he actually cares about you, even if it's just as a friend" Kana reasoned. "It's probably lucky for you that he can be so secretive at times. Even Hatori seemed to think so."

"Regardless, we need a way for you to get in touch with Hatori without a repeat scenario" her friend said. "We need a plan."

"The Sohma archives might be of some help if I can locate anything about the curse" Kana suggested. "It's fortunate that they're separate from the main house."

"Could you get in and out of there without notice?"

"Well no, but I could claim to be looking for my own family history for a bit of a research project."

Mayuko shook her head.

"That's still too suspicious. Even if you're memories are supposedly gone, they'll still be watching you like some type of government agency. Their survival depends on keeping this from the outside world." She argued. "We need to think of a good reason for you to be there. Or at least for you to get anywhere near Hatori without going for a medical checkup. And it has to be on your terms or he'll erase your memories again."

"I'll think of something" Kana said attempting to smile. "I appreciate your help Mayu. I'm still so grateful that you believe me."

* * *

 

Mayuko walked home that night with a feeling of discontent. She knew Kana's situation wouldn't be easily remedied and there was the distinct possibility that Hatori could arrange for both their memories to be erased were they to approach him. No, Mayuko would observe her students Yuki and Kyo Sohma and their interactions with the other students, particularly the Tohru Honda, for any such irregularities. They needed an in, something that would allow Kana to come into contact with Hatori without it being suspicious, that would allow her to assess his feelings for her. At the very least she could try to gage for herself what the curse really was and if it could be broken in some way. Hopefully without giving away her own foreknowledge of it.

Mayuko passed by several acres of Sohma property on her way home and happened to catch a glimpse of a great big black dog watching her from the top of someone's garden wall. She slipped past it without giving it the satisfaction of seeing her stare back. A feeling of nervousness gripped her as she walked along the sidewalk. The dog was another zodiac sign, like those connected with Hatori's curse. If Kana was truly being watched then chances were the people who did it weren't always going to be human. She needed to keep her wits about her and try to act as normal as possible. It was going to be a long year, she suspected, fraught with Kana's attempts to regain what she'd lost and Mayuko's own quest to get over her crush on Hatori. She would never stand in the way of Kana's happiness, and in fact, had always thought of Hatori as Kana's, regardless of the situation they'd been in. Shigure was still on her mind as well, even as he insisted upon intruding into her life at frequent moments when she'd been forced to look after her parents bookshop.

After some thought Mayuko decided she might as well take advantage of Shigure's presence at the bookshop the next time he appeared, to try and figure out what zodiac animal he turned into. Given Kyo and Yuki's personality traits and Hatori's own inclinations, it wasn't difficult for her to assume that the Sohma's acted and reacted similarly to their animal forms as humans. She would have to prick Shigure in just the right places, maybe bring some catnip along, a squeaky toy, and some bird seed. That would narrow down her choices and get rid of the usual options rather quickly to see if one of them fit.

She'd only tell Kana about her plan after she got her answer. There was no sense in worrying her already paranoid friend about anything more.

 _Although,_ Mayuko mused to herself, _I should let her know about the animals. If the Sohma's can understand human language even as animals, then they could very easily find her out before we get anywhere with this._

She dialed Kana's number and fortunately her friend was still there.

"Hey, Kana?"

"Mayu? What is it?" Kana asked in a slightly panicked voice.

"No, it's nothing like that. Calm down. I just wanted to put something past you." Mayuko informed her.

"O-okay."

"We should probably limit any conversation we have around animals, say the neighborhood cats, dogs...birds..." the high school teacher explained. "If Hatori understood you that time he transformed, then I'd be willing to bet they all can."

"I hadn't thought of that" Kana said warily. "Thank you, Mayu. You be careful too."

"I will" Mayuko replied with a wry smile. "Just take care. Your happiness is what matters to me most."

"You're a good friend, Mayu" Kana answered cheerily. "I hope you're happy someday too."

After they hung up, Mayuko couldn't help turning her friend's words over in her head. She was happy right now, despite her parents insistence that she settle down. Shigure's visits to the bookshop kept things lively, even if she was constantly suspicious of his motives.

* * *

 

It stayed like that for years, with Kana managing to gain entrance to the family library while pretending to be engaged to a friend, one inclined toward no interest in her or any woman. A charade that carried on for nearly two years, with Mayu keeping Shigure on his toes the entire time, even as he tried to set her up with Hatori.

Mayu spent her time with Hatori reminiscing about Kana and filling him in on her life, sewing the seeds for their possible reconciliation.

Eventually Kana was able to find a suitable ritual that involved the severing of threads bound together in one fate.

“We have to burn the threads, Mayu” Kana said calmly. “I found it buried in one of the only family histories.”

“Kana I don’t know if those threads will be enough” Mayu replied skeptically.

“They’re symbolic…and there’s something else I have to do by myself. Just promise me you’ll keep my secret. That when they ask you, if they do, that you’ll say you didn’t know.”

“Kana?”

“Please Mayu.”

“I will, for you, Kana.”

That afternoon Kana wove the threads into small places throughout the Sohma main house. It was a time when most of the family were gone and Akito still hadn’t returned from a family event that day.

The fire was small, not even a visible from the quiet corners of the house as Kana donned gloves and lit each one with the old box of matches she’d taken from within the compound itself. That night the fire grew and nearly engulfed the house before an alarm was raised by someone purposely brought to notice it by Kana during a night walk in the gardens.

No cause was ever found as the threads had been burned to cinders and the house itself was nearly destroyed as slowly a change came over the zodiac. The threads burnt out and the curses of each of the zodiac began to shatter as though the threads holding them together had suddenly collapsed.

Akito’s screams could be heard beyond the dais as flames tore through Sohma house, though her fear was more for the sudden loss of her cursed bonds than the ruination of her home. Kureno attempted to comfort her only to be rebuffed.

Kana quietly ended her engagement a week later and visited her relatives under the guise of ensuring their possible recovery, while catching Hatori once more looking to her as he had when they’d been together.

 _There’s a chance_ she thought, _and I’ll take it when the time is right. It’ll come back now. There’s nothing to stand between us this time._

Mayuko’s expression of surprise after hearing about the fire had even fooled Shigure. Not that Mayu was completely in agreement with Kana’s methods, but she did see a marked difference in each member of the zodiac she encountered from then on. They seemed cheerier and more of the world than before.

When Kana visited Mayu at work one day, she noticed a girl holding hands with two of her younger cousins, Kyo and Yuki, who’d once been inflicted by the zodiac curse. They seemed more than content as they set off toward home and Kana knew then that she’d done the right thing.  Her guilt and memories of the fire's destruction were something she would hold inside her for the rest of her life.  Even as the memory of Hatori being hurt by Akito slipped to the forefront of her mind.

It helped knowing these children would never have to fear the threads that had tied them down ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note. Sohma house was another thing that held the family together in an unhealthy way and I have a theory that the curse might even be connected to it as well. That aside there was a reason for what Kana did, albeit, not an excuse for arson by any means, but unfortunately Akito made a habit of getting away with various crimes of abuse over the years. Something that was perpetuated by the fact that she could hide things away in the main house and isolate people there, at times keeping them locked up (i.e. the use of the Cat's prison, particularly on Rin in the manga and locking up Yuki in the manor's more central rooms). So Kana's decisions were motivated by what Akito had done and continued to do to members of the zodiac as well as the rest of her family. Kana herself is still a bit triggered by what she saw Akito do to Hatori years ago. So she has her own psychological issues weighing in here.


End file.
